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New Gators OC Brent Pease making late push for QB Paxton Lynch

The Gators could make Lynch their only QB signee of this class. (Daytona Beach News-Journal photo)

A year ago, Charlie Weis came to Florida and pulled off a dramatic recruiting heist to land QB Jacoby Brissett.

It looks like new OC Brent Pease is making the same move. One of the first phone calls he made when he took the job was to Paxton Lynch, a relatively unknown quarterback at Trinity Christian Academy in Deltona. The Gators have not been in contention for a quarterback prospect all year, but now appear to be close to offering Lynch a scholarship.

“They were on board with him early, but Charlie Weis always said they weren’t going to take a quarterback this year,” said David Lynch, his father. “They were upfront about that. Charlie Weis left, and then Pease called the house right away and said, ‘We want to take a quarterback. Let’s get him up here for a visit.'”

Lynch will visit Gainesville the weekend of Jan. 27, and Trinity Christian coach Allen Johnson believes the Gators will offer him a scholarship while he is on campus.

The fact that Florida has not come forward with an offer probably means the coaching staff is considering at least one other quarterback.

Lynch (6-6, 220) would be a surprising pick up for Florida. Few major programs are pursuing him. His father said Florida A&M and Division II Florida Tech are the only schools to offer a scholarship. The only big school that appears to be close to offering is Indiana, which Lynch plans to visit next week.

He believed he was among the state’s top quarterback prospects heading into this season, but suffered a bone bruise in his knee during Trinity Christian’s spring game. He played through it the following week, then missed several games. He also played at a small high school where it was tough to draw attention. Rivals.com did not even give him a rating.

“He’s a big kid, pocket passer, has a cannon,” Trinity Christian coach Allen Johnson said. “He can throw the ball 80 yards. He’s 6-6, 220 pounds right now and he doesn’t even know what the weight room looks like yet. He hasn’t done any serious working out. If he goes to a big-time college program he could easily be 250 and ripped.”

Lynch also runs the 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds and is effective in the power run game.

He is in a difficult situation with signing day two weeks away. He must weigh the two offers he does have while he waits to see if Florida or Indiana will come through with one.

Even though the Gators seem hesitant to come forward with an offer, Lynch believes he will reward them if they give him a shot.

“I feel like I can play with anybody,” he said. “I’ll compete with anybody out there.”

Do the Gators need him? Coach Will Muschamp said last summer his preference is to have four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster at all times. He currently has three.

True sophomores Brissett and Jeff Driskel are in line to compete for the starting job this spring, with red-shirt sophomore Tyler Murphy also at the position. It seems unlikely Brissett and Driskel can both stay at Florida long term, and Murphy was the fourth-string quarterback last year.

The Gators currently have six players enrolled and 12 others committed in the upcoming signing class. Florida hopes to sign close to the SEC maximum of 25 players and can back count some of the early enrollees to count towards last year’s class.

Commitments are nonbinding. A player is not locked in until he enrolls on an athletic scholarship or signs a national letter of intent. National signing day is Feb. 1.